Achieving objectives can boost your self-esteem, motivate you, and grow you. But you can also negative think when you don’t accomplish anything. You can set a goal for anyone, but hitting one may be dependent on the criteria for establishing a goal.

Realistic objectives help in getting people to change and keep the momentum of your personal and professional growth. In this guide on how to set goals and in goal-setting theory you will learn how to accomplish your goals for increased self-confidence.

What is goal setting?

Goal setting is finding something you want to get done and setting reasonable, quantifiable goals for getting there. These steps can be made up of setting both long term and short-term goals to keep you on target, measure your progress and achieve your end result.

Goals are things you (or your team) are aiming for over a set period of time. Goals are key in eliciting new habits and putting your priorities on the front burner.

8 Ways to Make Resolutions and Follow Through.

“You’ve probably had days when you didn’t achieve something that you aimed for. Maybe something else came first, or the work just didn’t happen quickly enough. 

Everyone has some reasons why they struggle with goal setting but if you are deliberate in how you define goals, you’re more likely to be successful. Some helpful goal-setting tricks for reaching your goals when they are too big.

Visualize success

And to get what you want; you need to know what it means to be successful. Visualization is the art of making the outcomes you want to see appear already. It’s about involving all your senses to get your brain used to the experience of actually getting there.

You can start doing this by making your own vision statement (that’s what you’re saying, about yourself, about what you want to do).

Visualising success like this will drive you to define exactly what it is you’re working towards and then go ahead and do that. It can also give you an illusion that your vision is achievable.

Set SMART goals

Over 1,000 studies in Frontiers in Psychology reported that achieving ambitious, clear goals increases task performance, persistence and motivation over simple or vague goals. This is where SMART goals help.

The acronym SMART goals mean these things:

• Concise: No one should be guessing, what you want to achieve.
• Measurable: You should have goals set up that indicate you are on the right path or on the verge of getting there.
• Realistic: Objects that can be achieved given what is in front of you.
• Contextual: Your specific intentions should be connected to your overall definition of success. At work, that can be coordinating your own aspirations with those of the organization.
• Deadlines: Make sure every goal has realistic deadlines so you can work fast enough to complete it in time.

If you create goals with these traits, you’re primed to succeed more likely. This is a SMART goal scenario to get you started to see how this looks like in practice:

• S: You want all your customers to complete satisfaction rating questionnaires at the start of their contract and again after 2 consecutive quarters.
• M: You want to increase customer satisfaction 15% within 2 quarters.
• A: Customer satisfaction ratings have already been increasing quarter by quarter in the last year, so this can happen.
• R: You want the firm to be known as customer-focused.
• T: Your goal date is for the next 2 quarters.

In this scenario, you’ll know if it was achieved by comparing if customer satisfaction increased by at least 15% in the next 2 quarters. Those facts are what make objectives specific and quantifiable.

Write down your goals

Put your intention in writing, and it becomes more literal. As a psychologist Gail Matthews found, people who list their goals will do more than those who do not. 

They also reported that if you let other people know your intention so that you are accountable for it, then you are likely to succeed. When there’s another to watch you succeed, it can be more compelling to stick to it because they aren’t going to let you down.

Outline your action plan

Because targets tend to be abstract and longer term, you can make it easier to break them down into small steps that show continuous improvement. Continued work on mini-tasks can seem more effortless as you keep hitting big slam dumps and you can celebrate small victories.

For an implementation roadmap, consider developing a “goal ladder.” For this life-planner, start by jotting down your main goal at the very top of the “ladder” and naming all your mini goals “rungs” from your main goal. 

You may also want to put some items on a to-do list and cross things off the list as you go for a feeling of accomplishment. Add due dates for individual steps, too, and you can stay on schedule.

Set a timeline

Setting a goal’s time line makes it easier to stay on track, prioritize, and measure, all of which you need to get there. Remember that you have to stay on the realistic side of your timeline with goals for success.

For instance, let’s say you decide in January to have a book done by year’s end. This new deadline might not be possible for you if you’ve been only able to write half a chapter every 2 months previously. 

Make sure to also take into account things such as any work projects you may have that require late hours, travel plans or competing priorities when calculating a timeframe. That way, you can make better deadlines that align with how you currently live and what you prioritize.

Identify potential obstacles

To be realistic when setting your goals also means being prepared for what might go wrong. Whether this is because of money or life circumstance, someone else’s actions might be the barrier. But, either way, you’ll hit snags.

Write down obstacles that might pop up in your path and what you can do to minimize them if they pop up. If you know the things that can go wrong and they come up, they won’t be as intimidating if they do come up in your journey to accomplishment.

Find an accountability partner

If you want to achieve something 100% by yourself, it is very lonely. You get on the same consistent, steady path, keeping yourself on the same path.

Try getting a friend, family member or life coach to be your accountability partner. Tell them what you’re trying to achieve, let them know every week how you’re doing, and get their support along the way. For instance, you can request them to send you goal quotes to motivate and motivate you to keep going.

Reflect and adjust

Like anything in life, sometimes life comes and you have to change the timing or the goal and that’s okay so don’t be so disappointed – go back and look at your goals and see what you can change. Figure out what works and what doesn’t and modify your strategy accordingly.

What is goal-setting theory?

This goal-setting theory is a motivational theory of how goals influence behaviour, so that you can better figure out how to hit your goals. It tells us that goal-directed, hard work is more productive, enduring and motivating.

These five theories make up goal-setting theory:

1. Clearness: According to the theory, you need to be very precise in order to succeed.
2. Struggle: Anything you’re looking to do that is difficult motivates you to do it so it is likely to happen.
3. It takes commitment: It takes buy-in and accountability, you have to take it on.
4. Feedback: Goal-setting theory says to get frequent feedback of what you are doing well and where you can improve to be successful.
5. Complexity of task: Any big goals that appear difficult or daunting should be decomposed into smaller tasks for extra motivation.

Why is goal setting important?

Goal setting guides you and allows you to fulfill your purpose. And, if you don’t have goals, you’re nothing more than an unrealised dream. 

Here are just a few reasons why it is important to have success goals.

It provides an orientation.

You have goals, you have a clear idea of what you are aiming for and what you need to do in order to reach that, and that can feel like direction. You might, for instance, compose a five-year plan of how you would like to be in five years. With this a long-term vision you can transition from dreaming to actually doing.

Goal setting in the workplace allows you to have an idea of where you want to go together. And it makes for more specific expectations of collaboration.

It puts the bigger picture before you.

By setting targets, you’re getting perspective on the big picture. This involves thinking from the large picture, and it’s the key to living a meaningful life.

At work, collective goal-setting allows everyone to see the same endgame. Knowing the end game and what your business is working towards makes each team member better at their job.

It provides motivation

If you regularly write down goals, you’ve got something to work toward. If you have a goal, you (and your team) will be more likely to try your best.

When you are part of the team, it is motivating to see what your team is striving towards. Converging on an end result is inspiring, fulfilling, and gives your team purpose.

It allows you more agency over your future.

Having goals puts you in control of your life. Just writing down targets means you actually acknowledge what you want and how you’ll get there. This means you don’t owe as much to destiny, and are more in control of your dream life.

Objects: what are they and aren’t they?

We hear “goal” used in so many different ways that you might miss the point. Here are a few attributes of what is and isn’t goals to help make it clear.

A goal is:

• Your long-term goal. Goals should come from an intelligent discussion of a vision statement and what you want to accomplish.
• Time-sensitive. The best goals are temporal. It is more time-consuming to achieve goals than your regular to-do list, and you can divide goals into smaller short-term goals.
• Large in nature. Fear nothing of setting an ambitious, achievable goal (that you feel has to come at some cost). Think outside the box, and dream big. You can create short-term targets so you get closer to the end result and the outcome seems easier to attain.

A goal is not:

• An objective. Goals are about what you wish to get, and objectives are what you have to do to get there. So “I want to be a good public speaker” is one of them. “I’ll work with a coach to work on my public speaking before the end of this month” is the goal.
• A resolution. Resolutions are also fleeting and give us instant satisfaction (rather than the more long-term satisfaction). If resolution is a choice of action or inaction, goal is something you are striving for and a process that never ends.
• A mission. Statements of mission define a concise and narrow direction to take. They are the purpose statements from which organizations or people function. Conversely, a goal is a target that you or your team sets.

7 common types of goals

When you have the type, you may know exactly what goals are and aren’t.

1. Goals that are short-term: Typically, you can reach your short-term goals very quickly (a couple of days, weeks, months). You can break them down to monthly goals, weekly goals, or daily goals.
2. Long-term plans: If you want to achieve long-term plans you would usually need to do it over a longer timeframe, say months or years like establishing plans for upcoming year. The trick to succeeding at these is to be focused and prioritise.
3. Goals for yourself: Goals for yourself refer to things in your own life like health, relationships, and interests.
4. Career aspirations: Career aspirations are about your job success and can revolve around performance, promotions, and career advancement.
5. Goals pertaining to money: Money goals refer to what you are saving up for (down payment on a house, debt repayment, retirement savings, etc).
6. Learning objectives: You might assign learning objectives to fulfill educational objectives (i.e., a degree, higher grades, mastering a skill).
7. Social goals: Social goals — Social goals are related to your social wellbeing, it might be new friends, communicating better or going out to a party.

So, make sure to determine what goals will best serve your values and priorities so goal setting becomes more efficient and meaningful.

Start setting goals for success

Whether it is something you want to grow in as a person or professionally, goal setting will give you more purpose in life. Goals allow you to be more intentional and a little bit more disciplined about reaching for your dream future. Goal setting is all about creating attainable and quantifiable goals that you believe are reasonable. You need regularity and purpose to get what you want.